Title, Footer and Page-Number Consistency
When to use
Use this skill when titles jump position and footers or page numbers are inconsistent. Symptoms include a title that sits at a different height on every slide, a footer with the project name on some slides and blank on others, page numbers that are present, missing, or in a different spot, and section dividers that do not match. Run this first in Stage 4, before the full audit, because these are the repeated elements a reviewer notices immediately.
What it does
It makes the deck's persistent furniture consistent: titles at one position and style, a footer with the same content and placement throughout, page numbers present and uniform, and dividers that share one design. The result is a deck that reads as a single, finished document rather than a stitched-together file.
Method
Persistent elements belong on the slide master and layouts, not hand-placed per slide. The job is to get them onto the master and uniform across the deck.
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Fix titles to one position. Confirm every title is in the Title placeholder at the layout's position (the Grid skill handles drift; here confirm the result). Titles should share one top edge, one left edge, one size, and one case rule across the deck.
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Standardize the footer. Decide the footer content from the brand: typically the confidentiality note, the project or client name, or a copyright line. Set it once via Insert then Header and Footer (or on the master) and apply to all, so it is identical on every slide. Remove per-slide manual footers.
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Enforce page numbers. Turn on the slide-number placeholder and confirm it appears on every content slide in the brand's position and style. Decide the convention: whether the title slide and dividers carry a number, and whether numbering is "n" or "n of N." Apply it uniformly.
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Unify dividers. Make every section divider use the same layout, the same background, the same title treatment, and the same numbering ("Part 1," "Part 2") so sections feel parallel.
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Handle the title slide and closing exceptions. The title slide and closing slide usually omit the footer and page number by design. Set these exceptions deliberately rather than leaving them inconsistent by accident.
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Check the running header if present. If the brand uses a running header or a section label that updates per section, confirm it reflects the right section on each slide and is in the same place throughout.
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Confine furniture to the safe zone. Keep footers and page numbers inside the safe zone and out of the trim, and keep the footer logo's clear space (coordinate with the Logo skill).
Inputs
- The deck.
- The brand rules for footer content, page-number convention and position, and divider design. If undocumented, ask, or state a single convention and apply it.
Output format
A consistency report:
- The chosen conventions: title position and case, footer content and placement, page-number convention and position, divider design, and the title or closing exceptions.
- A per-slide list of furniture that deviates and the fix (move title, set footer, add page number, restyle divider).
Close with a confirmation that titles, footers, page numbers, and dividers are uniform across the deck.
Example
Input: a 30-slide deck where page numbers appear on about half the slides and the footer text varies.
Output:
- Conventions: title at the layout position, sentence case; footer "Confidential. Project Atlas." bottom-left; page numbers "n" bottom-right, off on the title and dividers; dividers on the Section Header layout numbered "Part n."
- Set the footer and page number on the master and apply to all; turn off on the title and dividers.
- Restyle two dividers that used the wrong layout.
- Result: uniform titles, footer, page numbers, and dividers.
